Antoni Dobrowolski (October 8, 1904 – October 21, 2012) was a Polish educator, teacher and

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivor. At the time of his death in 2012, Dobrowolski was the oldest known survivor of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Dobrowolski was born in Wolborz, present-day Poland, on October 8, 1904. Nazi German authorities limited the education of ethnic Polish children to only four years during the occupation of Poland in order to undermine

Polish culture The culture of Poland ( pl, Kultura Polski ) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Polish culture forms an important part of western civilization and ...

. Despite the ban, Dobrowolski joined the Secret Teaching Organization to provide

underground education Underground education, or clandestine education, refers to various practices of teaching carried out at times and places where such educational activities were deemed illegal. Examples of places where widespread clandestine education practices to ...

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

, according to Auschwitz historian

Adam Cyra Adam Cyra (born 1949) is a Polish historian. A specialist in World War II history of Central Europe, he graduated from Jagiellonian University. Since 1972 he is a staff member of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim. His doctoral th ...

. Dobrowolski was discovered and arrested in June 1942 by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

. He was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was assigned the prisoner number 38081. Dobrowolski later recalled that "Auschwitz was worse than

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's hell." He was transferred to the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

and Sachsenhausen concentration camp, remaining a prisoner until his release in 1945. He moved to Debno, Poland, following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

following his liberation. He worked as an elementary school teacher, before becoming the director of a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Dorbrowolski died on October 21, 2012, in Debno, Poland, at the age of 108. He was the oldest known survivor of Auschwitz at the time.

References

1904 births 2012 deaths Polish educators Polish centenarians Men centenarians Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors People from Dębno {{Poland-academic-bio-stub

See also

References